I missed this film entirely in 2008. Don't think I even saw a review. But it was a choice from our DVD rental provider and my wife and I thought it might be interesting. It proved to be excellent. In the Lionsgate tradition (amply demonstrated in previews of other Lionsgate films before the main event arrives), it contains a great deal of violence. However, the violence serves the plot, which is too complicated to describe here in great detail. Essentially it is an allegedly true story about a crime engineered by a British spy agency to retrieve some photographs stored in a London bank vault which show a member of the Royal Family engaged in a sex orgy on a Caribbean island. The small time criminals engaged to execute the break in are recruited by a woman who had been caught smuggling drugs into Britain and coerced into cooperating. The break in brings fatal consequences for some, though not all, of the gang members because several of the safety deposit boxes contain evidence implicating a couple of violent criminals and many members of the London police force. Interestingly, one of those violent criminals is played by David Suchet, who some viewers will recognize as "Hercule Poirot" in the many episodes of Agatha Christie stories that appear regularly on PBS. Of course, he's nothing like Poirot in the movie. But it's a reminder, if any is needed, that Suchet is an excellent actor and -- like many other Britons seen regularly on large and small screens -- extremely versatile. While we liked the movie a lot, watching David Suchet was one of the chief pleasures.
Review of The Bank Job
